Stop backdoor talks: Gwen
Sun.Star Cebu, March 26, 2009
By Gerome M. Dalipe, Linette C. Ramos, and Rene H. Martel
CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday clarified she refused to have a dialogue with Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez to settle various issues between the Capitol and City Hall, including the fate of families living on Province-owned land.
“I have learned in my five years as governor that you cannot depend on (Cebu City Mayor) Tomas (Osmeña) and you cannot trust him,” Garcia said.
While he “will listen to anything,” Mayor Osmeña yesterday said the Capitol officials must “establish their credibility” before he will seriously entertain any agreement with them.
full article:
Stop backdoor talks: Gwen | Sun.Star Network Online
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Council seeks further review
By Gerome M. Dalipe and Linette C. Ramos
CEBU City councilors did not approve yesterday the ordinance that prohibits the development of Capitol-owned and other government properties for commercial purposes.
Instead, the council decided to return the proposed ordinance to the committee on laws because the amendments introduced are “significant and substantial.”
Councilor Gerardo Carillo, one of the proponents, said the review will delay the approval by one week. But it should not be taken to mean that the councilors are backing off after Capitol officials threatened the lawyer-councilors with disbarment cases if they pass the measure.
Maneuver
Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu Province, 3rd district) said that City Hall officials were simply “buying time” when they referred the proposed ordinance to a committee.
“Well, it’s good that they are thinking of their careers as public officials and lawyers. As they say, hinay-hinay aron dili mangapandol,” said Garcia.
full article:
Council seeks further review | Sun.Star Network Online
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Editorial: Dissecting the Filinvest deal
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
PEOPLE with a decent grasp of our politics know that real motives in the most recent acts of Capitol and Cebu City Hall officials are the ones that have been left unsaid.
Politics, retaliation. Not necessarily for public good---the most common pretense.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the City Council, for example, have long tried fooling the people by saying its decision to block further development works at the Banilad-Talamban area is meant to protect public interest.
Traffic woes in the area are only incidental, or a convenient front, to the actual intention of hitting Capitol by halting its planned Ciudad project in Banilad.
And yet Osmeña and the Council continue to keep the lie alive even if only the most naïve among their constituents believe it.
Target
Capitol, for its part, knows that City Hall’s joint venture agreement with Filinvest Land Inc. to develop portions of the South Road Properties is the one issue that Osmeña and the Council are most sensitive too.
It is also the one area where City Hall is most vulnerable to, considering the many questions that one can weave from the now controversial transaction.
Capitol obviously considers this issue as the natural counter-offensive target.
Not purely negative
At first glance, and especially because of the verbal vitriol both sides of this conflict are throwing, there is the feeling that the conflict is not serving governance.
This is because the common thinking is always that cooperation and harmony should be the guiding principles in government relations, whether among local government units (LGU) or between an LGU’s executive and legislative branches.
But conflicts can also serve a purpose other than the negative one.
Veil
A deeper scrutiny of the City Hall-Filinvest joint venture, for example, could not be had under the present setup where all the members of the City Council belong to one party, which incidentally is also under the full control of the mayor.
The Capitol-City Hall conflict, however, could help lift the veil covering the transaction and dissect the agreement for infirmities or for provisions that could place the government at a disadvantage.
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Cuenco may back probe on FLI deal if he finds solid proof
Thursday, March 26, 2009
By Linette C. Ramos
REP. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) is also interested to review the joint venture contract of the City Government and Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) to verify the alleged irregularities pointed out by Capitol officials.
Cuenco said that if there is any indication of anomaly and solid facts that can be used as basis for an investigation, he would support Rep. Pablo John Garcia’s (Cebu Province, 3rd district) proposed House inquiry on the joint venture deal.
Vague idea
But if he finds out that Capitol officials are only making baseless allegations, he will be the first to oppose the inquiry, he said.
In a phone interview yesterday, Cuenco declined from commenting on the issue until he reads the signed joint venture agreement to develop a 50.6-hectare portion of the South Road Properties (SRP).
full article:
Cuenco may back probe on FLI deal if he finds solid proof | Sun.Star Network Online
Originally Posted by blackdronza
Yes. Bagay nuon, niya kinsa my bida nilang tulo?Si Miss Cellphone, si Queen of Darkness oh si Mary Ann
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